The End of Birthday Palooza (I Promise)

Ssssshhhhhhh . . . . what is that I hear? Wait -- can you hear it, too? Listen.



Silence.



Pure, uninterrupted silence.



My house is quiet. After two complete weeks of people in the house, tonight there is nobody here by me, Meg, and Kate. And Meg and Kate are sound asleep as I type. With the exception of the dryer humming and my keyboard clicking, the house is silent.

(Contented) Sigh.

Don't get me wrong: having company is great. I'm alone often, so having somebody here when I come down the stairs after bedtime routines is usually a treat for me. But, after a couple weeks of schedules being disrupted, routines tossed aside, and a hint of general chaos, having nobody here is kinda great, too.

The Birthday Palooza 2009 is officially in the books. We all enjoyed the excitement, though at times it was a bit of a struggle. I think I overbooked us, quite honestly. From the time that Jim's family arrived until Jim's mom said goodbye at lunchtime today, we were go-go-go. At times, it felt nearly nonstop. From the Aquarium to a bbq dinner . . . from dance class to a Costco run to Target shopping . . . from birthday party to present opening . . . from purple birthday pancakes to another bbq to a movie in the basement . . . from the pool to naps to more presents to bed to the doctor to lunch with Grandaddy. It was probably the busiest seven days I've lived since before Meg and Kate were born.

The girls loved every minute, and the first and third birthdays were certainly celebrated to their fullest. I think Meg will be sad tomorrow when she does not have a present to open -- she's opened at least one treat every day since June 18th. And Kate, she'll miss the hub-bub of activity. And I think she is already resentful of the fact that Great Grandma's departure meant that the gates had to go back up in the halls to keep her from her beloved staircase. Back to normal around our house.

Jim left yesterday for his week, and the girls and I have no real plans (except dance class) for the rest of the week. It's nice. We'll see where each day takes us.

Enjoy some (all found on our Picasa site) of the party highlights below. And I promise -- no more birthday posts. I know enough is enough. I've already vowed that next year we will go on a beach vacation for the birthdays . . . Birthday Palooza 2010 might be a little lower key, but that is OKAY with me.

Oh -- and I would be remiss if I did not thank EVERYONE for helping to make the past week so much fun. Paulette and Stan (my inlaws) were fantastic and helpful in every way possible. No task was too extravagant or too silly. Jim was my knight in shining armor, as usual . . . always swooping in to fix a problem or diffuse me if I got too wound up. Julie and Greg were great to give me a night off and host dinner at their house Sunday. And even my friends Keisha and Tricia were awesome to help so much at Meg's Pool Party Monday morning. I could not have done it without everyone -- so a million thanks all around.

And if you want to know how I was really feeling at the end of the day yesterday, check out the picture Jim must have taken of me as we were opening the last round of gifts and I was making the 'thank yous' list . . .